They partnered with local members of the disabled community to determine textile solutions for problems facing those with disabilities — from a more comfortable wheelchair to a new shoe-tying system. And to come up with solutions, many students got a hands-on research experience.

Their prototypes are impressive and include two new types of wheelchairs, systems to help disabled people with everyday tasks such as buttoning a shirt and a “sensing vest that assists the visually impaired with walking by providing discrete vibrations when an object is in its path.” Scott Ryan ’10 explains the vest in the above video.